What Monkeys Can Teach Your Nonprofit
Babies can teach you the same thing.
If one baby does something, the others will want to ape them.
“Monkey see, monkey do.”
This is actually a psychological principle of influence and persuasion known as “social proof.”
It’s best explored in the 1984 groundbreaking book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini. He outlines six principles of influence affecting human behaviors. They’re all well documented, and can be incredibly useful to fundraisers.
One of the most useful principles is the one we also know today as the “Yelp effect.” It’s a type of positive (or negative) word of mouth that can make or break your business. I know how often I’ve abandoned my cart after reading a negative review. You?
Word of mouth is perhaps the most powerful form of social media you can find, so it pays to leverage it to your advantage.
Even someone inclined to support your cause may not give unless you push the right buttons. Of all the ways to do that, social proof is among the easiest and most successful.
Have you started working on your annual appeal and year-end fundraising plan?
How often have you heard someone say “I hate fundraising; I’ll do anything else,” or something along those lines?
What motivates someone to make a major philanthropic gift?
When you’re not aware you’re making a mistake, it’s hard to avoid it.
No one can do it alone, sitting in their own little corner.
The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy projects total giving will grow by an estimated 4.1% in 2021. So you can’t use the pandemic as an excuse for raising less money in the year ahead.
People are wired for stories
Why do people – with plenty of worries and expenses — give hard-earned money that could otherwise be spent on their own families, taxes and bills to complete strangers via philanthropy?
This is one place you don’t have to social distance.
What’s the point of a fundraising appeal letter?
Wondering where fundraising is heading in our highly networked, overly saturated, noisy-as-all-get-out post-digital revolution world?
Can the act of philanthropy make people feel better?
